Visual Schedule
What is it?
A visual schedule is a display of what is going to happen throughout the day or within a task or activity. It is helpful during blood draws and other medical procedures to decrease anxiety and difficulty with transitions by more clearly letting your child know when certain activities will occur throughout the day or appointment. How do I teach it and use it?
- Decide the activities that you will put on the schedule. Choose activities that are most likely to happen in that order. Try to mix in preferred activities with non-preferred ones.
- Put the visuals that stand for the activities that you have identified on a portable schedule (on a binder or clipboard) and bring it to the visit. The schedule should be available to your child at the beginning of the first activity. It should continue to be visible through all of the activities.
- When it is time for an activity on the schedule to occur, let your child know with a brief verbal instruction before the activity begins. When that task is completed, tell your child to check the schedule again and transition to the next activity. Some children may respond best when each task during the procedure is broken down in a detailed way. If this makes your child more anxious, a more general schedule might be better.
- Provide praise and/or other rewards for following the schedule and completing the activities. Put a preferred activity at the end of the schedule to give your child something positive to look forward to after completing all the items on the schedule. See rewards (link to Rewards section) section for tips on choosing effective reinforcement.
What if challenging behaviors occur?
If challenging behaviors occur, continue to focus on the task and praise the parts of the procedure your child is completing. Instead of shifting attention to the challenging behavior, provide brief statements or a visual that tell your child what you would like for them to do (e.g., hold your arm out). Then, move to the next task when that task is complete. Provide any rewards that are shown on the visual schedule when they are supposed to occur. This is because the focus of the visual schedule is on completing the tasks, not on addressing challenging behaviors that happen during them.
If you think challenging behaviors may occur, introduce your child to the visual schedule before the visit and practice them during daily activities he or she enjoys. This way, your child will already understand the meaning of this tool and will trust its use when it is brought out during blood draws and medical procedures.
If challenging behaviors become more difficult to manage, it may be appropriate to consider behavioral consultation with a professional to address these behaviors directly.
